10 Places to Sell Books Online

The following is a guest post from Bailey Harris. Bailey writes for the Health Insurance Blog.

If you are looking for new ways to make money online, consider selling some of your used books. There are several different sites that will buy books directly from you and others that will let you list your books for free. In most cases, you can receive payment via PayPal, check, or direct deposit. Here are 10 great places to sell both fiction and non-fiction online.

Half.com - This eBay site is one of the better known places to sell books online. You don't have to pay any listing fees until your book sells. The buyer pays the shipping and your list price. Half.com makes sure you get the money, direct depositing funds into your checking account twice each month.

Amazon - After registering for an Amazon seller account, you can begin selling books in the Amazon marketplace. Your items will be displayed right along with all of the other products that Amazon sells. If you have a lot of inventory, you can get your own branded, custom online store. Any money that you make will be deposited (by Amazon) in your bank account.

Facebook Marketplace - You can sell almost anything, including books, in the Facebook Marketplace. There is no charge for listing your books. Listings will stay posted for 30 days and can even be displayed on your regular Facebook page.

Powell's Books - Powell's will buy your used books from you. Enter in the ISBN numbers of the books you want to sell. Powell's will make an offer on the books. If you like it, you can ship your books to the Powell's warehouse and collect your cash.

CKY Books - CKY Books will also buy your books directly from you. Some of the books you can sell include textbooks, religious books, self-help books, travel books, and current fiction. CKY takes care of shipping costs and pays via check or PayPal.

Cash4Books.net - This site specializes in fiction, non-fiction, and textbooks published after 2008. Enter in the ISBN of the book you want to sell and find out how much you will be paid for the books. Ship the books to Cash4Books.net for free and get paid via PayPal or check.

Paperback Swap - Paperback Swap is designed for people who want to sell books and get more books as payment. All you have to do is list books that you are willing to swap. When people request your books, you send them out and get a credit that can be used to request books from other Paperback Swap users.

Moola4Books - This site has paid out more than $13 million to private book sellers. You can ship your books to the site for free using FedEx and receive your payments via PayPal or check. Payments are usually made within one business day.

Sell Back Your Book - Sell Back Your Book will not only buy your books, but will also pay any shipping fees associated with the transaction. This site also buys used books from libraries.

BookScouter - You can't sell books on BookScouter, but you can use the site's comparison tool to see which book buyers will give you the best price on used books. BookScouter's tool searches 40 different buyer sites and works especially well for people who are trying to sell textbooks.

Related Reading:

Selling Your Books

10 Great Resources for Free Books

Weekly Roundup

If you or someone you know is looking for a job make sure to check out Internet Inc.com for some ideas, as well as their list of the top 100 job search websites and categories.

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging states that their primary mission “is to build the capacity of its members to help older persons and persons with disabilities live with dignity and choices in their homes and communities for as long as possible.” This site offers a wealth of information surrounding the care and well being of older people.

If you love movies you’ll want to spend some time at Movieclips, where they have collected clips and made them completely searchable by actor, title, genre, occasion, action, mood, character, theme, setting, prop, and even dialogue. With each clip they include links so you can buy or rent the feature-length movie.

Here is an interesting article about a dying banker’s last instructions.

15gifts allows you to fill out a brief survey about the person or couple you want to buy a gift for and they give you 15 recommendations. You enter their age, their relationship to you, the occasion, what they like and wear, and your budget and the site picks the results. You can remove any of the suggestions and they will be replaced with another. I think it’s very useful site because picking out gifts has always been a weak spot for me.

Weekly Reminder – A reminder of a useful article you might have missed.
Make sure to check out this article on the ten best home improvement and DIY sites.

Make it a great weekend!

Frugal Lessons From The Past: Carl Faber

History can provide some of the best lessons to help us figure out solutions to today’s problems.

Concerning finances, thrift, frugality and simple living there are tried and true bedrock principals that we should never forget.

This post is part of a series that focuses on some of those principals by going to source materials for inspiration.

Recently while looking at some books I had decided to get rid of I picked up one titled “America’s Hidden Wilderness, Lands of Seclusion.” It was published by National Geographic in 1988 and while flipping through it I stopped at a chapter titled “Desert Splendor” by Suzanne Venino. She wrote about exploring the Mojave Desert and at one point she meets Carl Faber, a “desert rat” and artist who had been living in a little house in the desert for 16 years.

“I don’t have a gallery or an agent. I sell my paintings right from my door,” said Carl, a tall, lanky man of 50 with curly hair and a mustache. Working in acrylics, pen and ink, and colored pencil, he produces near photographic renderings of desert landscapes. “I’ve become a part of the landscape myself,” he says. “I’ve had had coyotes walk up to me when I’m painting, and I’ve had birds land on my head. I know the intimacies of light and dark, the shadings of the seasons. I know the postures of plants and how they grow in relation to one another. It’s subtle, but I see it because I’ve spent so much time sitting quietly in the desert painting.”

Carl paints when he feels like it or when he needs money. “By giving up the need for money,” he says, “I’ve simplified my life. And what I’ve gained is time, time that allows me to do the things that I want to do. There are no schedules to follow here, no deadlines to meet. I read. I hike. Right now I’m teaching myself Gershwin and Fats Waller on the guitar. I can just enjoy the heck out of a day.”

Related Reading:

Frugal Lessons From The Past: Old Mike

Five Great Weather Sites

Call it compulsion or habit or whatever but when I first get online in the morning I check the weather, the news and my several email accounts, in that order. I remember catching the 10 PM news on TV with my parents as a kid and they would watch up to the end of the weather report then turn it off and go to bed. If the weather had been on first I’m pretty sure there would have been plenty of nights they would have just skipped the news altogether.

Checking the weather forecast in the morning of course provides fresher data than the night before, and because we get such a variety of weather here in Iowa (freezing rain, tornados, drought, floods, blizzards, thunderstorms, even thunder snow occasionally) keeping up with the conditions outside helps one to stay prepared. To that end here are five different weather sites that should help keep you aware of and ready for whatever blows your way.

Weather – Provided by The Weather Channel this site offers forecasts, maps, downloads and, of course, links to their shows.

AccuWeather – You can find news, videos and maps and can switch over to Canada and UK/Ireland forecasts.

National Weather Service – This is the federal government’s weather site and the information they provide is a little more extensive. While offering the usual maps and forecasts they also provide info on aviation and marine conditions, as well as a large educational section.

Intellicast – This one is my favorite, probably because I have been using it for several years now and I’m familiar with the layout. I saved the page to my favorites after bringing up my location, so now every time I check it the site loads with my local news, forecast and maps.

Finally, Time Temperature offers a valuable weather resource guide with loads of links to other weather and science sites.

Further Reading:

Six Great Gardening Sites

The 10 Best Freebie Sites

Weekly Roundup

If you are an anxious gardener awaiting spring planting, like me, you might get some relief by browsing Cyndi’s Catalog of Garden Catalogs. They bill themselves as “the home gardener's one stop to find all the mail-order gardening catalogs in the US and Canada - over 2000 of them!”

Register with iGive, shop at brand name online stores through the iGive Mall and a portion of each purchase is donated to your favorite cause, which includes over 44,367 organizations.

“Friends and family have always shown support and compassion after significant life events through the delivery of meals. mealTrain.com is a free solution that simplifies the organization of giving and receiving meals. By allowing the giving party to take into account the recipient’s preferred meal times, food preferences, and available days, the site helps ensure that the recipient gets the meals they enjoy on the days that are most helpful.”

This article lists what they call the best part-time jobs for retirees. There are some good ideas for those not yet retired as well.

Radio-Locator says it is “the most comprehensive radio station search engine on the internet. We have links to over 10,000 radio station web pages and over 2500 audio streams from radio stations in the U.S. and around the world.”

Weekly Reminder – A reminder of a useful article you might have missed.
This post is a reminder of why you should check the newspaper for good deals.

Have a good weekend!

Frugal Recipe: Kalamata Roast

As a New Year resolution for 2011 my wife and I decided to try one new recipe a week for the entire year. We have several file folders in the desk full of years of recipes given to us by friends, relatives and coworkers, torn from magazines and printed off of the internet. After several fits and starts trying to remember to use them when planning the weekly menu we just made it a resolution that we had to pick one a week. When going through the folders looking for a new recipe if one doesn’t sound good it gets plucked and sent to the circular file.

The recipe for this month is one of the new ones we tried and liked, and I will feature more in the future if they are really good. This one is from Boys Life magazine and I modified it from campfire cooking to an oven.

Ingredients

3 to 4 pound beef chuck roast

1 cup beef broth

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

1 large garlic glove, chopped

½ cup kalamata olives

1 can diced tomatoes

1 jar or 1 cup of fresh or frozen pearl onions

Directions

Brown the roast in a Dutch oven. Pour the beef broth over the roast, then sprinkle the remaining ingredients evenly on the top. Cook on low (275 degrees) for 3 to 5 hours, depending on the thickness of the roast, until done. The slow cooking time and Dutch oven is what makes for one of the most tender, tasty roasts you will ever eat. Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy, a rice dish or just a big batch of mixed veggies.

Further Reading:

Celebrate National Soup Month

Confessions of a Cheap Dater

The following is a guest post by Jim Riley, who writes about money saving ideas and other finance related topics, such as credit card debt relief.

It’s Friday afternoon, your mind has left the office a couple of hours ago and you sit wondering how to entertain your significant other for the weekend. It used to be easy, before your wife was laid off. A simple search of the latest movie previews, or checking out the week’s entertainment at your favorite comedy club would usually result in at least one fun-filled evening. Now, the thought of buying two movie tickets, a tub of popcorn and a pair of Cokes seems absurd. Heck, you could buy half a week’s groceries for that kind of money.

You’ve managed to pay the bills for the month (which means you’re back to sleeping all night) but a boring weekend stuck at home can soon lead to self-pity and strained relationships. It is imperative you get out of the house and do something fun, but you have $4.26 in your pocket and you don’t want any more credit card debt. What do you do?

Get a dog for the day

Don’t have one? Go borrow one from a friend or family member and take it on an adventure. Dogs are the easiest creatures in the world to please. A walk around town to a dog is like going to Disneyland for a kid. Have a beach or lake nearby? Take them there, undo the leash and make a best friend for life. Good karma AND good exercise.

Get an ice cream

Just because you can’t afford to take your sweetie out for a candle-lit dinner doesn’t mean you can’t take her out. Eat a nice dinner at home and then tell her you have a surprise for her – if she’s nice to you. There are a number of fast food chains that now serve soft-serve cones on the cheap. Like 79 cents cheap. Pick up your cones and choose a nice spot to sit and watch the world go by.

Borrow a movie

Someone in your circle is notorious for buying movies as soon as they become available. You’ve always wondered why someone would waste their money on something they could just rent, but now you know. They buy them so you can borrow them. Return them promptly, thank them sincerely and chances are they will ask if you’ve seen the others they own. You’re now set up with your own little ‘free-flix’.

Massage

Do I have to tell you the benefits of asking your wife to take off her clothes, lie on the bed and relax? Few things feel as good as a massage and it’s free! When you’re done giving the very best massage you can, simply peel off any remaining clothes you may have on and announce “My Turn”. Done correctly, this could lead to an entire afternoon of entertainment that cannot be had at any price (in most states).

Ok, that’s it, now my shoulders ache from all this typing. Honey!

Further Reading:

Ten Ways to Save Money by Staying Home

Nine Ways to Find Cheap or Free Performances

Weekly Roundup

Technologizer is both a fun and interesting site. If you like keeping up with the newest gadgets, companies and services, this is a site you have to visit. Even if you don’t keep up to date with the latest tech it’s worth a visit for articles such as “When the Muppets Worked for IBM” and “How 1940s Whiskey Ads Predicted the Future.”

I have featured gift card resale sites before, and Swapagift is another option to check out.

If you are ever interested in reading news from around the world from a local perspective give Newspapers a look.

If you are not to this point yet, you might be someday. Here is a good article from Kiplinger about managing your parents’ money.

LinkUp is a job search engine with a different slant: they only list job openings from company websites. They say they currently “have over 20,749 companies in our database that we monitor every night. Companies range in size from the largest to the smallest, and from all locations across the United States.”

Weekly Reminder – A reminder of a useful article you might have missed.
This post looks at five free programs for everyday use.

Make it a great weekend!

Make Money Selling Homemade Candles

Years ago, when I was still a kid living at home, I remember my mother making long green taper candles from thin metal antique molds. One of the collections she maintained and added to over the years was early American lighting objects, such as the molds as well as colonial era candle holders, wick trimmers, lamps, and so on. Part of the enjoyment of collecting for her was not just buying and displaying these items but actually using them, which is what led to her candle making period.

While mom was into it just for the experience, anyone who can afford to buy the supplies and take the time to produce homemade candles could try making some money selling them to the public. Some possible outlets include sites such as Etsy, Art Fire, or Silkfair, as well as craft shows, flea markets and craft malls. To find out where and when these events are held near you, as well as loads of great tips and sites to explore, make sure to visit both Craft Site Directory and Free Craft Fair.

Candle making at home can help fill some spare time by making a quality product that could make you some side cash. Check out the following sites to help you get started…

Pioneer Living offers an extensive section on making candles of all kinds.

Candle Whiz is a large online eBook that starts with the history of candle making and proceeds with descriptions of equipment you will need and how to make over a dozen different kinds of candles.

Candle Instructions provides plenty of tips and instructions as well as free 12 part email course.

Related Reading:

Make Money Selling Exotic Fish

10 Craft Selling Options

How to Plan a Valentine’s Date You Can Afford

The following is a guest post by Tara Alley, a freelance writer who enjoys writing about living a frugal life and encouraging others in the attempt to do the same. You can follow her @hopesiempre.

The average cost of a first date currently tops the $100 dollar mark, and I don’t know about you, but it’s pretty hard for me to put that and frugal in the same sentence. With Valentine’s Day approaching, the date we feel obligated to put even “more” into, I can’t help but cringe when I think of the money that’s going to be spent on uneaten chocolates, so-so meals at outrageously overpriced restaurants and the mildly funny, mildly crude flick. We tell ourselves over and over that “it’s the thought that counts” but then still manage to get sucked into showing that thought with our dollars. If you’re dreading Valentine’s Day because it’s just not fitting into your budget, don’t worry. There are plenty of alternatives out there, and in my opinion, most of them highly outrank an overpriced meal and a box of stale chocolates. Here’s a list of easily accomplished ideas & tips that won’t break your bank but do have the potential to sweep your date right off her feet!

Dinner & Dancing. In the comfort of your own home! Plan to cook a spectacular dinner together and make a whole evening of it. Pick something you’ve never made before but have both always wanted to try. You might totally blow it, and it just might taste horrible, but you’re guaranteed to have fun! Or you can skip dinner all together and do an assortment of delicious desserts! Ice cream sundaes smorgasbord! Finish up the night by popping in a rented movie of dancing lessons. Nothing better than learning some new moves without the embarrassment of a crowd of people AND for a couple dollars via the local movie store!

Hike & Picnic. Take a long walk together. If you can, get up on the top of a hilltop and spread a blanket out for a yummy spread of appetizers while watching a sunset. Exploring is always romantic. Accompanying gift: favorite wine/foodie snack.

Give a Coupon Book. Do you remember these? They’re incredibly thoughtful and any one will LOVE getting one. Make a collection of coupons for your date to cash in at their whim. Fun ideas: “I’ll Do the Dishes for You.” “Good for 1 Foot Massage.” “My Saturday is Your Saturday.” “One item off the Honey-Do List.”

Re-create Your First Date. If you’ve been together for awhile, this is a really fun idea, and chances are good that you didn’t spend $100 on that first date 10+ years ago. Accompanying gift: newly framed picture of your first picture taken together.

Plan your Dream Future. Spend the night in dream world and talk about your biggest dreams/hopes together. Plan what your dream house would look like, look at pictures in magazines, start a list of what you want to see and do together in the next year.


Coffee shop date. Catch up and enjoy each other’s company over a cup of espresso. It’s a splurge from the every day, but it’s not an $80 meal. Accompanying gift: their ultimate favorite coffee beans & a mug.

Find a local museum, a state park or outing area like an ice skating rink that doesn’t have an entrance fee and go take advantage of it! Surprise your date with doing your research ahead of time and showing her all the things you think she’d love. Accompanying gift: a scrapbook to keep track of all the future outings like this one.

Tips: Celebrate after Valentine’s Day. Everything’s cheaper: flowers, chocolates, etc., and if you do want to eat out, you can get into a restaurant easier. Skip the roses, they’re overpriced. Go for something more affordable and just as pretty (tulips). Make gourmet truffles. SO easy! And very impressive! Write out notes in advance and give one a day before Valentine’s Day. Surprise her with a handmade gift. Pick an activity like mini-golf, bowling, or the discount movie theatre.

It really is the thought that counts, so whatever you do, put some thought into it, starting now, and I guarantee you that you’ll impress your date infinitely more than you would with no thought and a large check.

Further Reading:

Best Free Movie and TV Sites

Six Great Ways to Save Money on a Wedding

The Law of Destiny

The following quote by George Dana Boardman traces how the formation of our character leads eventually to our legacy. I think one could apply this law equally to everyone from Adolf Hitler to Mother Teresa.

“The law of the harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”

Weekly Roundup

The winner of The Buck List $60 CSN Stores Gift Certificate Giveaway is Dakota S. Thanks to everyone for participating and keep an eye out for future giveaways.

Clicker describes their site as “one part directory, one part search engine, one part wiki, one part entertainment guide, and one part DVR.” As of this writing they say the site “contains more than 1,000,000 episodes from over 12,000 shows from over 2,500 networks, 30,000 movies, and 90,000 music videos from 20,000 artists.”

February is Library Lovers’ Month and this is a reminder to get out there and experience your local library and use the resources they offer. I visit my public library several times a month and a while back I wrote a post offering some tips on how best to use your library.

Like to play chess? Chess.com offers lessons, videos and tournaments…all for free.

Here are 22 ways to fight rising food prices.

If you have some gift cards lying around that you don’t think you’ll use why not cash them in? Check out Plastic Jungle to find out what they are worth.

Weekly Reminder – A reminder of a useful article you might have missed.
This post lists other uses for rubbing alcohol.

Have a good weekend!

DIY Gift Idea: Wall Art

The following is a guest post by Maria Rainier, a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education and performs research surrounding online degrees. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Got a friend’s birthday coming up? Chances are that there are some bare walls to be covered, so give your friend the gift of a creative piece of wall art. You won’t spend much (if anything) on the project, you’ll have fun, and your friend will appreciate the time and effort you put into making a thoughtful and useful gift. Don’t worry – you don’t have to be crafty. But watch out, because you might find yourself getting more creative than you thought possible. It’s easy to make these fun projects, and you might even want to make a few for yourself – so check out the following list of ideas to save money, nurture your creative side, and get started on your next DIY gift.

Painted Ceiling Medallions

If you’re having trouble getting a sense of your friend’s aesthetic when it comes to wall art, try something simple: ceiling medallions. You can find these for low prices at your local home improvement store in a variety of shapes and interesting designs. Simply choose one or more medallions and paint them using colors that go with your friend’s décor (spray paint works fine). To take this project a little further, grind up some colored chalk into a fine powder and use a makeup brush to dust it onto the painted medallion. It should settle into the recessed parts of the medallion, highlighting the design. Gently blow away any residual chalk dust and apply a clear fixative or lacquer, which can be found at your local craft store. Your friend will be delighted to hang these objets d’art on a lonely wall.

Picture Frame Collage

This project is only inexpensive if you happen to have access to three or four empty picture frames in varying sizes. You can try finding them at flea markets, antique stores, thrift stores, and even garage sales – you can also take a trip through your basement and attic to see if you have any unused frames. Once you’ve found a few, simply give them a new paint job (a color that contrasts starkly with the wall is very effective) and hang them close together as a collection.

Window Shutter Art: Form & Function

If you can find a window shutter, you can make this creative piece of wall art. Again, flea markets and the like are perfect places to find old rejected pieces that can be refurbished to create beautiful art. You can paint your shutter if you like, or if the finish is chipped and gives off a chic vintage vibe, you can leave it as is. If you choose to paint it, you’ll probably want to sand off the old paint and make sure you have a clean, smooth surface to work with. Spray paint is a great way to get in between the slats without spending a lot of time on brushing each one. Now, affix a hanger so your friend can display the shutter horizontally on the wall. One of the best ways to do this is to nail two sawtooth hangers onto the back of the shutter, one on each end. You can find these at your local craft or hardware store and they won’t cost you much at all. Finally, dig up some pictures of you and your friend (or print some if you keep digital photos) and slip them between the slats. Your friend can choose to display these and additional pictures, notes, postcards, or other items on the shutter.

No matter which project you choose, you’ll have a great gift that shows how much you care without burning through your wallet.

Further Reading:

Get a Free Loan from the NGA

10 Craft Selling Options